The Immortals

I was browsing Yahoo news, and I was amazed to find yet another Michael Jackson headline. Well, okay, maybe I wasn't quite "amazed" at the headline so much as I was amazed that we--society as a whole--are still so interested in Michael Jackson "news." (And ARE we interested, or is it just the media that thinks we SHOULD be? Sometimes I wonder.)

Why do we hold onto some of our "stars" long after they've passed away? Yeah, sure I liked Michael Jackson's music. I imagine most of us did, at least during one musical phase or another, if not the entirety of his work. But Michael Jackson, the man? (And can I even type "Michael Jackson, the man" with a straight face?!) Aside from his music--and maybe his dancing ability--I just thought Michael was an odd kid who kept getting odder and odder, as he got older and older. Didn't you?

And, by the way, doesn't it surprise you how many people seem to believe Elvis Presley didn't really die? Here's a little thing I copied off Wikipedia:

"There is a belief in some quarters that Presley did not die in 1977, that he is still alive, that he went into hiding for various reasons. This claim is allegedly backed up by thousands of so-called Elvis sightings that have occurred in the years since his death."

And, oddly enough, there are apparently a lot of people who think the same thing of Michael Jackson. Have you seen some of the Michael Jackson after-death sightings? I saw one video that was supposed to be Michael sitting up in the coroner's helicopter, but it was too blurry to see. Then there are several versions of a video on YouTube purportedly showing Michael hopping out of the coroner's van and being escorted into the building. (You can check out a listing of them HERE if you haven't seen the video yet--there's also a video pointing out why it's all a hoax.)

I wonder why some people feel such a need to believe some of our stars aren't really dead? I'd really rather believe in Santa Claus, a thriving economy, and world peace.